Do you love your knive? (AKA knive appreciation thread)

Do you have a bench grinder?

no, but I now wish I did!

But it sounds like you're on a mission so I'd say do a course and buy some stones based on the course recommendation.

other people have said this to me.... appreciate your input - thanks :-)

wasn't aware of the knife porn thread either

No worries - genuinely not trying to be a dick or anything, in case it came across that way. I think it's going to be the outcome you're happiest with.

no not at all ! genuinely much appreciated - thanks

I did the course, bought the wetsones (and nice knives obviously), which has given me me 2 nice new hobbies, which may not always be recommendable. But helping out in the kitchen was a nice addition to living with my partner in our tiny appartment and the sharpening is a somewhat therapeutic activity.
Next buy (instead of another knife) should be a ceramic sharpening steel and leather strop (been using my belt uptil now).

I thought I'd been pretty good about honing edges on to blades - my grandad taught me when I was about 5 and I'd gone though life happy with my knife blades.
That is, until I attended a course and invested in a couple of Japanese whetstones - it has put the sharpness of my knives into an entirely different league.
BTW, when chummy upstairs^ in the MDF wheel video demonstrates the sharpness of his knife by slicing through a sheet of paper, that looks like a piece of fairly thick paper - like 120gsm or maybe more - that's easy to slice. Aim to have your knife sharp enough to slice newsprint.
Or if you want to go silly sharp - tissue paper. G'luck.

With the bench grinder I can get kitchen knives sharp enough to shave with in under a minute. I am more than happy with that. I have also used it to overhaul an axe left by the previous owner of our house. Whetstones are great for people with time and patience but I am not one of them.

I can’t check against newsprint as don’t get newspapers.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not knocking the bench grinder - and, yeah - if you can shave with it, that's a pretty good indicator of sharpness.
First time round with a whetstone may take some time.
I hone both of my knives roughly once a fortnight - or when I notice the edge is no longer keen - I don't think it takes me much longer than 5 minutes - ah! I've just re-read what you've written - "under a minute" - as you were ;-)

I haven't tried one but keep seeing adverts for these. They look pretty easy to use.
https://www.boroughkitchen.com/products/horl-2-sharpener-walnut

Sorry if this has been covered, I'm just triggered by the spelling of Knive.
Is it not Knife or Knives? Happy to have my knowledge expanded.

Shiv or shank, varies according to correctional facility of choice.

https://www.boroughkitchen.com/products/­horl-2-sharpener-walnut

yeah but £140....? is it really much better than a pull-through OR going on a course and learning how to use a whetstone....

if it works i would buy it but am wary

Do a course.
It'll stay with you forever and give you some thing to share with your kids / grandkids.

It's a nice and inventive product, like a few other sharpening products, but they're nothing compared to learning the craft of the stone

I love my morakniv 511, used it to cut through about 20 rolls of scrim netting for a recent event set up and about 100m of fibreglass insulation rolls, edge is obviously dulled a bit now but still cuts fine, will sharpen it up on a whetstone when I get the chance to restore it to glory

Dunno, easier than a whetstone because you can't fuck up the angle but don't know how fine a finish they can do. Personally I just use a stone badly but my only pricey knife is already chipped as fuck so I'm not precious about it

the reviews/videos look good tbf

I learnt to sharpen by watching a load of YouTube videos and then practicing on a relatively cheap knife and some nice quality Shapton stones.

In my opinion you really don’t need a kitchen knife to be able to cut through tissue paper or shave the hairs off your arm. Yeah, it’s kinda cool, but I’ve never come across anyone in a professional kitchen maintaining their knives to that level of sharpness in over 15 years. If you can slice a tomato, you’re good to go.

(I used to be a head chef for the restaurant group of a celebrity chef and the executive chef used to hone his £500+ Japanese knife on the corner of the stainless steel worktop while demonstrating new menu dishes. Not to mention all the chefs I’ve seen with gouges on knives near the blade heel where they’ve been clattering it into a steel way too hard. Or the chefs that open tins with expensive knives. Or store their knives uncovered and tip down in a stainless steel gastro.)

And here’s a top tip for anyone ever staying in an Airbnb where the knives are blunt and there’s no steel/stone: flip over all the plates and bowls and look for one where the ceramic is exposed/not glazed - ta’da! You’ve now got yourself a perfect surface for sharpening your knife on.

Or the chefs that open tins with expensive knives

Literally the first thing my partner did with my nice new japanese knife. Raging.

Just to check folks, assume chefs knives can't be sold on here? Had some to move on and didn't want to just chance it!

Yeah, sorry you can only give them away.

What have you got? I'll cover P&P.

I'll be visiting Japan in September and want to bring myself at least one kitchen knife (santoku/bunka/gyuto and maybe a nakiri, in the range of 250€) from a traditional knife maker. Did any of you do something similar and can give me a few tips? I'm very uneducated (in this topic, but also in general) right now, so I'd be happy for any info regarding where, who, what, etc. Thanks!

try the knife porn thread

I would recommend going here in Sakai (link below) it’s a museum for the guild of knife master craftsmen.

All the knife master craftsmen have a cabinet upstairs in the museum where you can see a lot of options in one place and find something suited to you.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/U21H1fqC4gpGFK3K8?g_st=ic

Great tip. We only have limited time in Osaka, but will try to visit there!